My names Stuart (Stu) and as with all of you here I suffer from some form of palpitations

Ive been looking in on this site for a little while and would like to initially say how good this resource is to people who suffer daily with this problem. Also thanks to Cazza for recommending this site to me, shes doing a great job on the 'No more Panic' website of advertising this place to people who need it

Ive been experiencing skipped beats for about 5 Years now, and Panic/Anxiety attacks since I was about 9-10 years old, Im 37 now, so I have lived with issues for a long while now

I have only recently found such great online communities such as this forum and the No more Panic website which have been a godsend, and coupled with some therapy I feel I am starting to move forward.

As I said im 37, from the UK, married with a 2 year old son and am reasonably healthy, or so my doctor tells me apart from anxiety!!

[color=#339900][/color] hi stu i am also new to this site its great that we are not alone when we get these skipped beats i hate them but i am managing to come to tearms that it is anxiety i have four kiddies which can be quite a handful when they are all playing up lol i should just try and chill alittle eh lol anyway cazza recommended me to go this site to so a big thanks to her i am also on no more panic which is an ace site to everyone is sooo caring anyway hope you start to feel better soon love julie x

hi everyone im julie i have suffered from ectopic heartbeats for about 4 years now they are so annoying i can get really brilliant days when i dont feel them but i too get the days when i feel so lousy with them as i dwell on them i know ido when you dont get them for a while u forget u ever did them BANG one comes a long and you start to panic all over again its a visious circle isnt it anyway hope to chat to you all so we can help each other and put a stop to our missed beats lol thanks to cazza for introducing me to this site on the no more panic website cheers you have made me a happy lady thanks xxxxx hope to hear from u all soon love julie xx

I've added a couple comments, but never introduced myself. I'm Shirley, just turned 45. I've had these irregular heartbeats for a couple years. They began out of no where, however I'm sure it's because of my "anxiety". I started having panic attacks after my Mom had a massive stroke (10yrs ago). She was 54 yrs old. She lived a couple years after her stroke, she lived with me. I tried my hardest to take care of her. My description of caring for her is "she went through hell and she took me with her". Also, my dad had a heart attack and died when he was 44yrs old. I'm assuming I'm next. People die so early in my family, I live in fear of being next.

I've had so many test done, they say "you're fine". I'm not fine. I'm a nut case! I'm surprised my husband is still with me. I'm sure that's just a matter of time too. Everything I love has been taken from me.

This site has helped, but the fear is what's killing me. I hate the fast heartbeats, the skipped beats, the hard thumps in my chest, the dizziness, the thoughts, I hate it all but this is my life! My life as I knew it is gone.

I read from this site daily. RLR is a Godsent. His compassion is from above. I'm just so thankful that he cares.

I'm very glad to be able to read everyone's thoughts and messages. It's all I've got to stay sane at this point.

HiI'm Deb aged 34, 2 kids and husband! Had one type of ectopic beat for about 10 years couple of months ago I got a different feeling and began to panic about it, ended up in a&e they said they couldnt find anything, gp refered me to cardiologist who thinks the different feeling is also ectopic beats but in different area of heart. Had echo, event recorder next week then back to docs for results.I'm trying not to worry but I do. Also suffer with health anxiety, but trying to be strong, I wont let it beat me!!! This forum is great, lots of proffessional advice makes me feel more confident that theres absolutley nothing wrong with me. Deb x

I Kathryn (Kath) I'm 27 and I've been visiting the site for over a year and been getting anxiety, palpitations and weird and wonderful beats for about 5 years?, I have 3 children and a husband, and I feel and have felt like all of you at some point, having a bad time at the moment (well for me anyway) but generally had been getting better.

It's great your on the site RLR is great and full of information and reassurance, and it's great for us to share our experiences as although our experiences are unique to us we can all relate and help comfort and reassure each other.

Another golfer - what is it with you men and golf (only joking) My dad is mad on golf - he only started participating properly and joining a club about 5 years ago.

He's at golf every oppotunity and drives us crazy, my dad is very competitive, we don't worry to ask where dad is on his day off or ask him what he's up to on his day off! Then he comes home and me, my mum and my sister have to listen to all his golf talk, we just nod and smile (bless him no sons!), we feel sorry for our grandad he's 78 soon and goes to golf with my dad, grandad goes and trys bless him but dad moans at him for not being quiet when he's about to drive off etc..! Fortunately my husband and brother in law are into sport! He's also trying quite hard to get me to caddy for him when my youngest goes to school, even tried his new golf bag on me, I think NO CHANCE! I wouldn't know a wood from a sandwedge! I even can't play it on a computer!

Hi, just found this part of the site so would like to introduce myself to you all. I am 45, have 6 children and live in mid Wales. I've had skipped beats on and off for more years than I can remember - it usually goes sort of a few months of lots of them, then a few months with nothing....never worked out why, but I do get very upset about it, though I try not to........ I've had 2 or 3 different BB's but none of them stop the problem, though they make it a bit less forceful. It really helps to talk to others who know what it's like! Best wishes to you all!Rose

I've just registered and I reside in the UK, London. I used to visit the old Resonance site awhile back, having just discovered that it's been overwhelmed by those horrid spammers. Anyway just wanted to say hello as someone who found RLR's advice and logic very useful, glad that this new site has taken over the reigns. I was one afflicted by the demon skippies but have been free of them for about two years now. I'm 39 years old and first detected the skipped beats when I was about 35. I've never smoked nor drank either, so my condition was perplexing at the time. Mainly diet and excercise and learning to relax has helped. I shied away from the medication route Also had a complete cardio work up, stress test, ECG in 2004 etc which showed everything was fine. Ever since then I've been largely palp free. RLR might remember me, I've been writing my first novel, which is about 22 chapters along, hoping that the final 6 chapters will magically complete themselves in 2007! The book's about somebody who flies alot which I think RLR may find interesting given the experiences he posted once about being a US Navy jet pilot and how he lured enemy fighters during combat sorties- correct me if I'm wrong there! Writing has helped to focus my mind on a creative path which may have been the inadvertant magic bullet in my case. Anyway just wanted to say hello.

Glad to hear that you're doing so well and thanks for stopping by the new forum.

I'd certainly be interested in purchasing a copy of your novel when it become available on the open market. You'll have to let us know.

As for my "jockey" days, it was actually enemy pilots who used "jinking" techniques across the no-fly zone designed to lure U.S. pilots into engagement. Satisfying for the U.S. pilots who weren't afraid in the very least of a dogfight, bad for the enemy once they realized that drawing us into combat quickly put flames up their tailpipe and sent them down for the "splash."

I'm glad that you are so well now. It's reassuring to hear that these things can go away on their own. I have multiple ectopics - mostly I don't feel them unless I take my pulse, but they cause me a great deal of concern - totally illogical because I've had ecg's which say I'm fine. I'd be interested to know what caused yours to begin or were they always there but undetected - and was it getting the 'all clear' after the tests which led to them going? Do you have any other tips? I would love to think that my missed beats could go away completely - although I know they are harmless, I would prefer not to have to learn to live with them.

First off thanks for the personal welcoming message RLR! Oh not sure when my book will be published as I haven't even embarked upon the long, arduous trek of seeking out an agent let alone a publisher. But it wasn’t ever about getting it published, I’ve written it from the heart (smile), nurturing, chiseling away to unearth a story which has been a personal journey of self awareness and unintentional discovery. The postive side effect has been that the ectopic beats gradually decreased in intensity to become shall we say dormant. It may not have been the book writing, possibly a change in my personality and a belief that my life should not be dictated by these annoying skippies.

Saab- I certainly know how you feel and the despair which accompanies the demonic palps. At this juncture I suggest for you to read RLR’s Heart Palpitations 101 parts 1-6. This was useful for me to allay some of my fears- BUT I needed to get the courage and face my doctor and the requisite tests which would confirm that there wasn’t anything sinister up with me. White coat syndrome coupled with my tendancy of being a hypchondriac didn’t help. I should add that I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in 2002 Oct. I had the typical weight loss and endured a very rapid heart beat for a period of 6 months with rather debilitating missed beats before my diagnosis. My liver rejected the medication to temper my thyroxin levels and was given the only option of radioactive iodine to kill off the thyroid in June 2003. But refrained from signing the consent form, somehow the idea of radioactivity coursing through a portion of my grey anatomy didn’t sit too well with me.

But as luck would have it in Oct 2003 my thyroid recovered of its own accord . So now I’m okay but need to have blood tests every three months. However at the time the ectopic beats remained with me throughout the year until about 2004. But I noticed that they gradually were reducing in intensity, I got so used to them that I started to ignore them. My premise was if they came from nowhere then they should disappear to nowhere. I held onto that belief, living my life normally as possible. However Saab, I do not detract from how scary they can be, and how lonely you can feel. At times I wanted to give up and just stay in bed. Many a time I wondered if my heart would give out or stop suddenly. But the old Resonance site put things into perspective and was a god send. It made me take a sharp intake of breath and visit a cardiologist priviately and get a stress test and an ECG. I recall being extremely nervous when I did the treadmill test being hooked up to the monitor with half my chest shaved!

The cardiologist examined the results and said I was fine and there was nothing untoward with my heart. I was an athelete during my teens and have kept myself as fit as possible since then- now 39. It was ironic that a week before the stress test and ECG my palps disappeared! Go figure? The cardiologist described them as ectopic beats and that everyone has them, it’s just that we’re more sensitive to them and can ‘feel’ them. Like RLR has said he’s never witnessed anyone have a cardiac event as a consequence of these funny extra beats- I believe that. It’s true that after a qualified explanation of the beats they did more or less disappear. I may get one or two every 6 months or none at all. It doesn’t mean that I’m ‘cured’ as I don’t think there was anything truly wrong with me in the first place- they may return with a vengeance, who knows? Perhaps it’s a question of genetics, that a gene or something get activated given your emotional inputs and phyiscal stresses as well as your age– so for me I was ripe for hyperthyroidism which lead onto the ectopic beats maybe. Again its conjecture on my part.

I don’t think I’m qualified to offer any tips but can suggest what worked for me by sheer accident. I discovered that carrying on as normal has helped- delegating and not being such a perfectionist also eases the mind. Letting things go and not dwelling on office politics or demanding parents or a grirlfriend yelling at me. Eating tonnes of fresh fruit and veg and no alochol, but the odd binge on pizza etc is good for the soul! It may have nothing to do with diet – although a gastric disturbance in 2004 did kick in a protracted bout of missed beats..Anxiety and stress is what triggered my hyperthyroidism and I’ve had to learn to deal with that, so inadvertantly the book writing has helped me focus my mind and the exercise was perhaps beneficial. Saab I really sincerely hope you find your own magic bullet, but it might take sometime but I’m sure it will happen. If you’ve been given the all clear, you’ve had all of the blood tests, ECG’s etc then believe in it. One thing I do know if there was something seriously wrong then the symptoms would be little more troubling I suppose. Best of luck Saab and I hope I have helped in some small way. Take care.

RLR- So I got it reversed- so it was the Migs doing the jinking to attract the thermal scent of a sidewinder or sparrow? Was your metallic steed an F-4 perhaps? Sorry don’t mean to pry as my father was a fighter pilot as were most of my uncles – except one who became a doctor actually. There’s a few dogfight sequences in my story, but I’ve made the story appeal to children 10 years + as well as adults......continued......